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Bellator has announced that it’s ninth season will get underway with a card that will be headlined by middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko taking on recent tourney winner, Doug Marshall. The event will take place September 7th, at the at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Marshall (18-6) entrenched a bout with Shlemenko by scoring wins over Andreas Spang, Sultan Aliev and most recently Brett Cooper, who he knocked out at Bellator 95 in April.

Shlemenko (47-7) hasn’t fought since February when he stopped Maiquel Falcao to lay claim to the vacant title. The Russian fighter has won 10 straight bouts since he lost by unanimous decision to former Bellator champ Hector Lombard in October, 2010.

Bellator has also announced that former featherweight champ and current “Fight Master coach Joe Warren (8-3) will take on Nick Kirk (10-2) at the event. The fight will be part of Bellator’s next bantamweight tournament.

“The Baddest Man on The Planet is back with Bellator, and I’m already counting down the days until September 7th,” Warren said in a press release from the promotion. “I know what it feels like to have that Bellator belt wrapped around your waist, and I want it back. I’ve got Nick Kirk standing in my way to start the tournament, he’s a tough guy but nothing is going to get in my way if it means getting back that belt.”

Bellator 99, which will also feature the opening round of the promotion’s next middleweight tourney, will be broadcast live on SPIKE.